Spec me an Axe!

For splitting some larger logs for the woodburner, i’m thinking either a Maul

http://www.toolstation.com/search?searchstr=maul

or axe

http://www.toolstation.com/search?searchstr=axe

The Maul looks like it could be more of a workout, and fun, albeit easier to lose your foot 😆

Also are these wood grenades any good?

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Landscaping/d130/Log+Splitting/sd3179/Roughneck+Wood+Grenade/p40058

http://edgedarts.com/modern-tools/splitting-maul-6lb-axe-council-tools-usa-ct-60ma
http://edgedarts.com/modern-tools/jersey-pattern-axe-council-tools-usa-ct35jr36c
http://edgedarts.com/modern-tools/hudson-bay-camp-axe-council-tools-usa-ct175hb28
http://edgedarts.com/modern-tools/michigan-pattern-double-axe-council-tools-usa-ct352mr

Maul yes Axe no!
Felling trees axe is necessary if you are just cutting down the size of the logs you have already then a maul is infinitely better. very little effort required on most woods. Wood grenades are good but not necessary for most logs with a decent heavy maul.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-log-splitter-set-3-pieces/48279
Good deal there though!

Maul, Wood Grenades and a sledge hammer to put in the two wood grenades, if you have very large, very tough logs.

Or.

Get a Log splitter and the others can stay in the shop.

I’ve just got a Fiskars Super Splitting Axe and I’m impressed with it so far.

cruzcampo – Member

For splitting some larger logs for the woodburner, i’m thinking either a Maul or axe

The Maul looks like it could be more of a workout, and fun, albeit easier to lose your foot

The answer is neither. Get yourself a splitting axe. Mauls are slow and heavy, good if you like a workout but unless you are processing huge logs they are overkill. A splitting axe is lighter than a maul, and splits better than a felling axe and still good for logs a couple of ft diameter.

Also are these wood grenades any good?

They are good but splitting wedges are better imo as they are more versatile.

Cheers all, splitting axe sounds the business. I do like the look of those “council tools” though 😯

This is not the axe you’re looking for

Fiskars X27 – the Chris King / Nicolai of log splitting paraphanelia

geoffj – Member

Fiskars X27 – the Chris King / Nicolai of log splitting paraphanelia

Urgh, certainly is not. Plastic handled nastiness with steel that doesn’t hold an edge worth a damn. Gransfors Bruks[/url] and Autine are the top end of the axe world that you would realistically want to use. Wetterlings and Hultafors make nice stuff too, just not up the finish of Gransfors.

Fiskars X27

One of those.

Just by a run of the mill splitting maul as it will just get abused.

Urgh, certainly is not. Plastic handled nastiness with steel that doesn’t hold an edge worth a damn. Gransfors Bruks and Autine are the top end of the axe world that you would realistically want to use. Wetterlings and Hultafors make nice stuff too, just not up the finish of Gransfors.
POSTED 22 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Personal preference, but I find Gransfors and Autine a little form over function. Each to there own though.

geoffj

Personal preference, but I find Gransfors and Autine a little form over function. Each to there own though.

Autine perhaps. At that price I’d be afraid to use them, however I’ve not owned one. Gransfors though are just brilliant tools. Ergonomically perfect, perfectly balanced, immaculate finish. The best axes money can buy. A couple of minutes has them shaving sharp, you could go out, fell a small tree and it’ll still cut paper. the hickory they use in the handles is incredibly tough too. I’ve snapped cheaper hickory handles in one day, like anything else you get what you pay for.

I’ve had a few fiskars products and I really don’t like them.

Personal preference, but I find Gransfors and Autine a little form over function. Each to there own though.

Well, if the form is an axe-shaped tool, and it’s function is to cut through wooden objects cleanly by virtue of having a very sharp edge, then a Gransförs fulfills its intended criteria perfectly. It’s perfectly possible to find plenty of people out there who will forge an axe-head costing significantly more than a Gransförs and for which you’ll then have to find a suitable handle, or fashion your own and fit it.
I don’t actually understand that statement though, tbh; there are dozens of axe styles just in the UK, you just find the one that best suits the function to which you want to put it, at a price that suits your budget.
I have a Gransförs axe I bought a few years ago, and it’s a beautiful tool, but I’m thinking of getting one of those cheap Council Tools Hudson Bay camp axes, because they’re cheap, seem to be well made, and I like the head shape, slightly bearded, giving space behind the cutting edge to choke right up close, for carving, etc.
It might need some work to get a real good edge, but at that price it’s time I’m happy to invest. I’ve seen some beautiful hand-forged bearded axe heads that would be perfect, but were the same price as a complete Gransförs, with handle it was around £120!

For splitting some larger logs for the woodburnerl

A swanky lumbersexual vanity chopper that is sharp enough to replace your merkur razor is not the most appropriate tool.

Fiskars x27. Mine split the log I was chopping and carried on and split my chopping block too. Amazing tool. I started with one of those Roughneck 8lb mauls but the fiskars is in a different league.

I’m currently working through a mature sycamore with a spear and Jackson maul. Broke the handle with a combination of carelessness and bad luck, put in a new handle which seems much heavier and hopefully stronger. Ask me again aim 6 months and I might have finished the tree.

From what i’ve seen so far the Fiskars x27 is appealing to my chop and forget about it nature, doesnt need much tlc, and should cope with the sort of wood i’ll be getting.

Although I can get free wood too, but need to sort out a log store, any build your own kits out there? If I go this route i’ll probably get a more traditional axe, from some of the models mentioned above.

” any build your own kits out there? “
Old pallets scrap wood planks.

I’m sorry but I’ve been itching to do this since the thread started, adn I’m surprised it still hasn’t been done…

i’ve got my coat ready…

lumbersexual vanity chopper

🙂

I can feel a song coming on…

Cheap one with a wooden handle does the job, think the one at home is a silverline one, it was a tenner on amazon. The one I use at work we found leaning against a tree in the middle of a wood last worked 15 years before.
You swing them over your head and logs break apart. For the extra money of a Gransfors, it would have to pick the bits up and put them in the shed.

And avoid the grenades, you’ll blunt your saw when you have to cut them out.

My twopenneth.

Cheap, hickory handled maul will be great for chopping normal sized logs up.
Where you may need a logbomb is where you have logs that have joints in them. They can be very tricky to split.
Always buy two log bombs so you can recover one that’s got stuck in and obviously you’ll need a sledgehammer to knock them in with. Also get yourself a good wet wood saw.

I’ve got a good hardwood handled maul (I did have a fibreglass one but it only lasted five minutes), a good hardwood handled sledgehammer, two of those logbombs you linked to, a normal wood saw (for dry wood) and one of these

which cuts through unseasoned logs so quickly.

Get yourself some steel toe capped boots for when you’re chopping stuff up. You’ll be surprised how often stuff hits your feet.

just get a cheap axe or maul and go on an axe skills course.
once you learn how to swing an axe properly you will save many times more than you will spend on boutique brands, grenades, sledge etc etc.

I went to a handmade axe show a while back, and ended up placing an order for a custom geometry (aggressive head angle) axe crafted from Swedish steel by an artesian woodsman. After a couple of fitting sessions and a 9 month wait, the axe has arrived, and it’s a stunning instrument. I’m thinking of doing some lift assisted chopping in the Alps next year. I’m happy enough with small logs, but not overly confident with big log drops. I wonder if I should go on a skills course to make the most of the trip.

this seems to be a good one 😉

Bike, car, watch, hi-fi, slippers, beer, cheese…doesn’t matter what the item is, there will be some people who’ll tell you that they can do everything anyone would ever want with their Halfords/diesel/casio blah blah blah and there will be people who want to spend more to have something nice.

Growing up beside a forest and having processed firewood for maybe 30+ years I’m aware that cheaper axes do work. I’m also aware having used, abused, broken and lost countless inferior axes that Gransfors are ergonomically perfect for me and lovely to use. Haters gonna hate.

“Bike, car, watch, hi-fi, slippers, beer, cheese…doesn’t matter what the item is, there will be some people who’ll tell you that they can do everything anyone would ever want with their Halfords/diesel/casio blah blah blah and there will be people who want to spend more to have something nice.”

conversely there are people who seem to think you need snap on everything just to change the oil in your car….

I think this thread is tending to the black/white stage of argument now.

There’s a time and a place for halfords/snap on and Gransfor/silverline.

I hand process a LOT of wood, no swanky mcmoonterised tractor splitter for me – more’s the pity.

jimjam is right, in that the gransfor small forest axe is a pleasure to use, can be wielded one-handed on 4-6″ poplar cord, but go up a size and there’s just no point having a “cutting” axe when you’re trying to split something grumpy. For that any cheap an cheerful maul will do. I have a plastic handled one, I know there are plenty on here that wont use anything but hickory handled, but depending on what you can get hold of I dont think the difference is enough to worry about.

billhooks on the other hand, never anything but forged steel. Stamped steel plate should be outlawed for being so crap.

trail_rat

conversely there are people who seem to think you need snap on everything just to change the oil in your car….

Yeah, well my draper expert ratchet is a piece of shit, and I’ve found myself working on the car more often than I expected recently. Snap on you say?

As usual with the ol’ axe and splitting threads – hilarious!

Thanks, guys. Usual suspects, usual bullshit.

no swanky mcmoonterised tractor splitter for me

I don’t use a maul that much these days, but over the holidays I cut and split a load of logs for my aunt.

I use an Oregon splitting maul. The single thing that makes the experience easier is having an assistant to replace the split logs on the chopping block.

Once you get into the swing of it, its pretty quick, efficient and rewarding.

A cheap n cheerful Aldi splitting axe for me.. £9

just get a cheap axe or maul and go on an axe skills course

Just get a splitting axe, or a maul and do not go on a course unless you want to do it for a living.

wow, knowone mentioned using a chain around the log whilst splitting. only need to pick the log up and then unroll the split logs once…

chain? pffft, yer doin it rong! 😀

likes 😀 do they get stuck, as the chain gets tighter as the splits open up, the tyre would stretch until you struggle getting the logs out?